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Small and medium business | Business Central, N...
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need some clarity

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I want to know how usage-based billing works in Business Central. There is a usage-based billing check on the subscription package as well (can anyone explain how this works completely?). And how does the usage data import work? I am looking into it but can't understand what will be imported, which file will be imported, and what its format will be, etc. Need complete guidance.

Secondly, I created a non-inventory item. Then I created a subscription package with the partner type 'Customer' and assigned this item to it. When I created a sales order and did the ship & invoice, the subscription line was created. I then created a customer subscription contract, fetched the lines using 'Get Subscription Lines', and ran the further invoicing process. Good on this.

But when I created a new item and a subscription package for the partner type 'Vendor' and created a purchase order, the subscription lines were not created upon posting the receipt and invoice on this purchase side. Is the process different for the purchase side? Please guide me through the complete process.

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  • Suggested answer
    Teagen Boll Profile Picture
    3,187 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hi Peter,
     
    The usage billing doesn't have very clear documentation in my experience. Your best bet is to look at some of the DYCE documentation here: General Setup | DYCE
     
    Microsoft recorded usage billing secnarios here: https://youtu.be/jJxBswIy_Xw?si=12mkU9kroNu6TyPh&t=1125 - you can use that as a guide and I believe you'll need to update the data exchange definition or other setup for the file input.
     
    As for the vendor scenario you may need to look at a vendor contract and then also a subscription package for a vendor. Again the documentation from Microsoft is a bit unclear so I recommend using the DYCE documentation as well: Purchasing | DYCE
     
    Best,
    Teagen Boll
    Social: LinkedIn
  • Suggested answer
    Grigorios Mavrogeorgis Profile Picture
    2,514 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hi,
    on the vendor side check first that the Subscription Package Code is actually populating on the purchase line, or on the assigned subscription lines, before you post. From the item it should default automatically if the item is set as Subscription Item, but when that field is empty nothing gets created at posting. Also I think you need Vendor Subscription Contract Account Group filled in, otherwise the routine may finish without creating lines. Which version you are on? I have seen this behaviour differ a bit between 24.x and 25.

    For the usage-based flag, it just means invoice quantity is not from fixed recurrence, it comes from imported metering.
     
    The import sits behind Usage Data Suppliers and a Data Exchange Definition. Microsoft gives you an example/template definition, but the actual file format depends on whatever mapping you set there. Usually CSV with header row, xml works too. Search Usage Data Suppliers in Tell Me, the template is there.
     
    Hope this helps.
     
    ✅ Tick the checkbox below to mark the answer as verified, if it helped resolve your question.
     
    Regards
    Gregory Mavrogeorgis
     
  • Suggested answer
    YUN ZHU Profile Picture
    101,995 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hi, hope the following helps as well.
    Overview of usage-based billing
     
    Thanks.
    ZHU
  • Suggested answer
    OussamaSabbouh Profile Picture
    17,586 Super User 2026 Season 1 on at
    Hello,
    Usage-based billing in Business Central is meant for cases where the recurring amount depends on imported usage quantities, for example users/transactions/API calls; you first set up a Usage Data Supplier, data exchange definition/import mapping, subscription packages/lines marked for usage-based billing, and customer/vendor subscription contracts, then you import a usage file from the supplier through Usage Data Imports. The file is typically a supplier file, commonly CSV via the generic import, but the exact columns/format depend on your data exchange definition and must contain enough references for BC to match the usage line to the correct subscription/subscription line. After import, BC creates imported usage lines, processes them, updates the related subscription lines/contracts with quantities/prices, then you create vendor invoices for supplier-side usage and customer invoices for customer-side billing. For your second point, vendor-side subscriptions are similar conceptually, but make sure the subscription package line, not only the package header, has Partner = Vendor, and that the item/subscription line is assigned to a Vendor Subscription Contract using Get Subscription Lines or Extend Contract. If posting the purchase order does not create the vendor subscription line, I would check whether the package is assigned correctly to the item and whether the vendor package line is valid; otherwise create/assign the vendor subscription line manually from the subscription/contract flow, because billing vendor subscription lines must be part of a vendor subscription contract before invoicing.
    Regards,
    Oussama Sabbouh

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OussamaSabbouh 2,222 Super User 2026 Season 1

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